Wednesday, May 4, 2011

West-coast premiere of award-winning show... almost here!

Here's the scoop for the next award-winning show Brownie Points at Taproot in Seattle. Sounds like great entertainment for the family as motherhood and racial assumptions collide. For more information check the Taproot website.

(Photos by Tanya Barber)

Taproot Theatre presents West Coast premiere of Brownie Points

Opening on May 20, premiere continues Taproot’s 35th Anniversary Season

SEATTLE – “Brownie Points began with the question, ‘what is more powerful: the shared experience of motherhood or the divisiveness of race?’” says playwright Janece Shaffer of her new dramedy, making its West Coast premiere at Taproot Theatre this spring. Directed by Karen Lund, Brownie Points opens on May 20 and runs through June 18, with previews on May 18 and 19.

The girls' club pledge never promised camping would be easy...for the moms. In the late night mayhem of a backwoods campout a storm rages outside, while a squall builds inside the cabin. Set against tranquil mountains, the close quarters, diverse backgrounds and differing walks of life collide, spurring hilarious but meaningful conversations about race, religion and parenting.

“I love how this play gets to the heart of sensitive issues, by couching them in the comic moments of our everyday lives, making them accessible,” said Lund. “It basically comes down to what’s more important, people’s differences in things like race and religion, or what they have in common, which in the case of these women is the struggle to raise their kids the best way they know how.”

Brownie Points premiered to sold-out crowds at Theatrical Outfit in February 2010. Shaffer won the Gene-Gabriel Moore Playwriting Award for Brownie Points in November (she also won the award in 2009 for Managing Maxine). In addition to writing, Shaffer serves as director of communications for the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

Shaffer will visit Taproot Theatre for the week of Brownie Points’ opening.

TICKETS: Tickets are available online at www.taproottheatre.org/buy-tickets/ and through Taproot Theatre’s box office, in person or by phone at 206.781.9707. Tickets range from $20-35, depending on the performance. Taproot offers a $3 senior/student discount off regular priced tickets (excludes previews). $10 tickets are available for ages 25 and under. Tickets for the senior matinee are $20. Discounts are available for parties of 8 or more through Group Sales; call 206.781.9708. Tickets for the pay-what-you-can performance are available day of show at the box office only; contact the box office for details.

ABOUT: The girls' club pledge never promised camping would be easy...for the moms. In the late night mayhem of a backwoods campout a storm rages outside, while a squall builds inside the cabin. Set against tranquil mountains, the close quarters, diverse backgrounds and differing walks of life collide, spurring hilarious but meaningful conversations about race, religion and parenting.

ABOUT TAPROOT THEATRE COMPANY

Taproot Theatre Company is a professional, non‐profit theatre company with a multi‐faceted production program. Founded in 1976, Taproot Theatre serves the Pacific Northwest with Mainstage Productions, Touring Productions and the Acting Studio. Taproot exists to create theatre that explores the beauty and questions of life while bringing hope to our search for meaning. Taproot Theatre Company is a member of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), Theatre Puget Sound (TPS), and the Greenwood‐Phinney Chamber of Commerce.

Thanks to our title sponsor, Viking Bank, and our opening night sponsor, The Upper Crust. Support for Taproot Theatre’s 2011 Mainstage season is generously provided by The Charles Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences, The Seattle Foundation, 4Culture, ArtsFundandPONCHO.